Seattle Parking Vigilante Charged With Keying Cars

Proof that not all lawyers are asshats.

@e90_m3, how does an asshat lawyer show that not all lawyers are asshats?

Second-degree malicious mischief? That's a real charge? I don't know if that's hilarious and awesome, or hilarious and insulting. Obviously it's hilarious either way.

http://youparklikeanasshole.com/

Print some out, leave them in your glove box and distribute as necessary. Keying someones car for being a careless parker is extreme. This guy deserves a stiff penalty.

I agree with this guy for leaving people notes on their bad parking jobs, but not with the keying. This is why I always take extra time to find an end spot, and park as far over as possible.

A lady at work was opening her door on a windy day and her door slammed into my 1 month old '11 Grand Cherokee. It only made a slight mark on the chrome door trim and I appreciated that she at least told me, I didn't make her pay for a new trim piece but I've noticed she's a lot more careful now.

People that can't park or door ding your car are the douche bags.

Actually this weekend I was getting into my car, and a woman parked next to me let her door slam into the side of my car, leaving a nice quarter-sized ding. She asked what we wanted to do so I told her that I could get it out for $40 or she could leaver her insurance info. She started going off about how she wished she could have caught everyone who left a ding in her car... She decided to give up $40 and I signed a paper to not hold them liable for other costs. The bottom line is, poor drivers cost a lot of people money in repairs and expect to get off free.

I sympathize with his fury but do not approve of his ways.

Leaving the notes was entirely reasonable but keying someone else's car is uncool.

@inlinesix, I don't think your transaction there is legal. Its borderline blackmail.

lostboyz, I'm not sure how it's illegal. It's a settlement, $40 and there will be no further pursuit of damages.

There needs to be some kind of receipt for services rendered, not just give me $xxx or else I'll turn it in on your insurance.

lostboyz: you obviously haven't taken any legal classes. If someone hits your car, as in a fender-bender, they can pay you for the damages in order to be released from any further liability. Its a completely legal form of restitution. However, I wouldn't assume people do this for larger accidents because of things like whiplash, unknown cost of repairs etc...

Someone runs over your bike wheel, and pays for a new one you wouldn't call that blackmail right?

unbelievable

read my post above yours, they pay after its fixed, you can't just claim how much it is to fix and demand money on the spot.

Nevermind, its not that big of a deal. It just seems shady to me.

I love these bumper stickers:
http://www.iparklikeanidiot.com/
they say to put it on your own car, I'm sure to avoid any liability for them :)

What drives me crazy is when I park 10 spaces away from any other car and the brain donor pulls in 6 inches from the side of my car (9 spaces away from all the other cars)

Curious what people do on the door dings when the other person isn't there, wait for the other person to come back to their car and confront them? All they have to do is deny it and get in their car and leave right? Are the cops really going to respond to a call about that?

I'm thinking he should have gone with gum under the door handle, or even something like hand lotion (there'd always be the doubt in their minds as to what it was). Or removing the valve stem from a tire or two :)

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain...

^^ Nicely put Harvey.

Lostboyz: It may "seem" shady to you, but when you catch someone putting a dent in your new car you can have the option of dealing with insurance or asking for payment. Up to you.

You dont even have to fix the car, you could take your family out for Pizza with the money. However, when you go to trade the car in or sell it, there's a big chance it'll be worth less to the next buyer. Either way, receipt or not, damages require reimbursement.

tmanz says:
What drives me crazy is when I park 10 spaces away from any other car and the brain donor pulls in 6 inches from the side of my car (9 spaces away from all the other cars)

Curious what people do on the door dings when the other person isn't there, wait for the other person to come back to their car and confront them? All they have to do is deny it and get in their car and leave right? Are the cops really going to respond to a call about that?

This EXACT thing happened to me last winter. And i did wait for the guy to return. I also called the cops in the meantime. His response "I didn't hit your f***ing car" ...the useless cops response "well if you didn't see if, you can't prove it"

My black paint on his white bumper isn't enough proof? He drove away and i got stuck with three real nice scratches on my fender....without witnessing it yourself your only option is to file a claim with your own insurance company.

I know one guy who always parked way, WAY away from other cars. One day he found that some idiot in a Tahoe parked @12" away from his car- even though there were dozens of empty spots much closer; the guy took his cordless drill and drilled out the center of each of the Tahoe's valve stems. It happened about a decade ago so no TPMS were involved, but I bet it was a real pain to get that idiot's car back up on all fours...

While I cannot condone keying, I do understand the idea that people who park poorly need more than a note. A ticket would be great.

@stoppre - file a claim? More like live with the dent. I was in my car, parked square in a spot when a bunch of kids got out of an SUV next to me and left a gash in my car's rear passenger door. The dad with 4 little kids looked at me as if he were in extreme pain. What could I do? Demand $100 to get the dent pulled out? Really? It's the only mark on my car, I see it daily and it bugs me but I didn't have the heart to tell this guy, "Dude, your miserable kid or one of her friends just cost you $100. Pay up." Accidents happen and this guy had it bad enough...

I don't know BDC, that "Dad" may have perfected that "look" to evade responsibility. Seriously.

I can't STAND people who park over the line or even worse, purposely take up two spaces. HATE, HATE, HATE those people.

So I understand what he did, I don't condone it, but I truly understand.

OK, I haven't heard anybody say it yet, so I will. "Keying" someboy's car is out-and-out vandalism. It's a pretty extreme reaction. Rationalizing, justifying and making excuses for bad behavior is still bad behavior. Basically, the whole theme reminds us what we were taught when we were little: that two wrongs don't make a right. But, yeah, I know, some of these kinds of situations involving insensitive, uncaring people do at times make you feel a need to do something. Especially when something as expensive as a new car is involved.

I don't see how keying the poor driver's car is bad behavior. Like the good word says, "Do unto others as they would do unto you".

Well, poor parkers damage your car and are generally @sshats.

So, by default, YOU now can damage their car and be an @sshat unto them. For that is how they wish to be treated, after all, by their actions they are known.